


Ner Cyare Kando Daad

by The_Shy_One



Series: Kar'ta [1]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fist Fights, Hurt/Comfort, Insults, M/M, Mission Fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Threesome, Swearing, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29099454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: Paz had kept his ear to the ground for news about Din after fleeing Nevarro. He goes searching for him when he sees Din's face pops up in the Imperial Database.
Relationships: Boba Fett/Paz Vizsla, Din Djarin/Boba Fett, Din Djarin/Boba Fett/Paz Vizsla, Din Djarin/Paz Vizsla
Series: Kar'ta [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2189718
Comments: 55
Kudos: 392





	1. Chapter One

Paz had kept his ear to the ground for news about Din after fleeing Nevarro. Most were rumours, stories that spread because gossip was far more interesting to discuss than the mundane parts of everyday life. Especially if the stories were about a shiny beroya showing up out of nowhere to provide help or cause trouble. But a few of the stories he was able to confirm made him stay hidden in the shadows, knowing Din was handling himself and the mission that the Armorer had given him about the kid.

Din was focused, always has been since taking the path to take the Creed. It’s why he was chosen after the previous beroya had retired, trusted to earn money that the Covert needed, that he wouldn’t run off on them. So Paz wasn’t worried after months of hearing stories - true and false - about a Mandalorian with a small strange-looking green creature that stayed at his side.

Concern only took route when a mark in the Imps system entered a new face and alerted him. A face that looked similar to the one he saw before it was hidden away by a helmet after Din took the Creed - to never take it off in front of another unless he was in the presence of his riduur and ade. Paz stares at the image wondering why Din let his face enter the system.

Paz feels the intense anger rush through him, similar to seeing the Imperial symbol on the blocks of beskar all those months ago. He thought Din was through with dealing with the Imps after rescuing the child, especially with the Covert having to reveal themselves to save the utreekov from killing himself.

Why? Why would he let his face be on such a database? After everything they had been taught about the Purge, about why they hide their faces from everyone but a select few who could claim close bonds to them, why would Din allow such a thing to happen?

Then he suddenly realizes through the fog of his anger that Din was in trouble. That something had happened with the kid.

What kind was unclear, but it was enough that he risked putting his face on the Imperial database.

Paz packs everything up from the room he was staying in and finds his way across the galaxy towards where the mark from the system had pinged. It was a planet that was mostly unpopulated, only inviting Imperial forces to come in and mine the resources to keep the cog of the Imperial army working. It would soon become a lifeless husk if the New Republic didn’t do anything to stop them.

He follows the trace until he reaches the base where Din registered his face. What Paz finds as he gets closer to the surface is the Imperial base and that it’s been recently destroyed. Black smoke rising from the skeleton of the building, water rushing through a hole of the dam where the Imps were hoarding water for their operation. It’s flooding the nearby area and he knew that the locals would find a way to harness the water and use it to their advantage. A failed Imperial base was a base that never got looked at again. 

He lands the small ship nearby in the forest, crawling out of it to take a look around. His helmet filters out the smoke and his suit protects him from the unknown substance that spread itself from the base. He heads closer to it, searching through the remains for the slim chance that Din might have perished there. It was slim, but nobody was infallible. 

Look at what happened to Fett about five years ago.

There was nothing to see, only the remains of what once was an Imperial base. Paz should be angrier that he couldn’t find any clues - he needed to find Din to make sure he was fine and offer him a way out of trouble -, but he’s proud that Din took out the kriffing bastards while trying to protect his kid.

But there was no sign that Din was still here even when Paz goes to find anything that might hold a signal. There was nothing, everything - that wasn’t pure beskar - was destroyed in the blast. He returns to his ship and comms the Razor Crest, hoping he could get a hold of Din that way. It pings and pings and pings and at some point, Paz realizes that the other man wasn’t going to pick up. 

Or couldn’t pick up.

He signs and tries to think, tries to figure out what Din could do when fleeing the base. He was looking for the kid, that was obvious, but where would he be searching if that were the case?

He goes down every possible thought. Anything might point him in the direction that would lead him to Din. What started all of this?

Then it hits him. Moff Gideon. The Imperial shab came after the Covert all those months back, driving all of them except for the Armorer out of their home in search of the child. It makes sense that the skanah wouldn’t give up on getting the kid back even after Din drove the man off of Nevarro.

He leaves the planet behind and gets to work finding out where Gideon could be. He keeps tabs on any sighting of Din from across the galaxy on the comm he managed to scrounge up while he goes to the contacts that the Armorer had given him when he escaped. Almost none of the contacts had any idea where Gideon could be, his location constantly changing since he had an Imperial ship under his command. Nobody could pinpoint him and if they could, he was gone before anyone could use that information to sell.

It had only been a few days since leaving that exploded base, but Paz was worried that he might have missed his chance to find Din. To figure out what was going on and help him out. 

Frustrated, Paz goes to the last contact on the list, a man who went by the name Korto Vos. A Kiffar who kept himself hidden underneath a cloak, only a few of his dreads poked out to show that there was a person underneath there from his picture when Paz went poking around on the holonet. Kroto could only be contacted by text and only agreed to meet when Paz told him why he wanted to meet. And how he got his number. 

He met with Paz on a less populated planet, hiding in a corner of a restaurant to give Paz the information he wanted without any outside ears to listen in.

They wait for the food to arrive and be eaten - since Paz refused to take off his helmet even to look inconspicuous - by the Kiffar before they went down to business.

“Follow Bo-Katan Kryze’s ship,” Korto said, handing him a chip that contained the tracking number of the ship. It was plain, nothing special. Paz didn’t know why he thought it would be. “She’s the only person who’s gotten close enough to finding Gideon’s ship.” 

“That's the best you got?” He asked. He had to make sure, had to know the best way to find Din.

Kroto grins, his white teeth catching in the light of the restaurant. It was wicked, enough so that Paz is suddenly hesitant to continue their contact. “I’ve also heard that she had an outsider help her get an Imperial Freighter a few weeks ago. A Mandalorian with pure beskar that hadn’t been painted yet.”

Din. That had to be Din. Nobody had pure shiny silver for their armour.“What do I pay you?” He asks, keeping his voice level. He didn’t want to give away how excited he was at finally finding a way to Din.

“Enough credit for another meal will be good.” The Kiffar relaxes back in his seat, hood shadowing his face from everyone. Paz shrugs and gives the man the credits he asked for. He won’t judge when scrounging up money for a good meal was hard to come by these days - despite how much the New Republic liked to talk about how good the economy was.

He leaves the restaurant, not wanting to become associated with Kroto. He was a spy, a man who could sell him out for the right price after all. The Armorer might trust him enough to pay him for information that she needed, but Paz was wary of him. He’s been wary of many things since having to fend for himself without the Covert there to catch him if he fails.

He gets on his ship and puts the chip into a port. It doesn’t take long for Paz to find where Bo-Katan is currently and make a course for it. The trip isn’t long, only taking half a day to reach since the warp drive was in decent shape. Paz lands on the planet and then goes to follow the fob number that was also on the chip. There wasn't much of a crowd as he walked through, the planet in a lull and nobody looking his way despite him being a good several inches taller and wearing his armour than everyone else.

It gave him the sign that he was in the right place, that he was following where Din would be. Or would be eventually if that weren’t the case. He could follow Bo-Katan if needed, he was able to track them even if they suddenly left. Paz felt excitement and hope buzzing beneath his skin, so close to finding Din, so close to finding out what happened, so close to helping the man with whatever he got himself into.

It leads him to a cantine, mostly empty with only a few tables occupied. He slips over to the counter, sitting on the far side and ordering himself something to look less suspicious when sitting down. The bartender nods and busy herself as Paz leans against the counter, a way to look natural as he spies on one particular group that was across the room, close to the counter as they sat at a round table. 

They were Mandalorians or had gotten armour styled like Mandalorians to protect themselves. He wasn’t sure, mostly since they had their helmets off in public while eating a meal. They were speaking lowly to each other, but the way their lips moved over certain words reminded him of Mando’a, the few scattered words he was able to learn and remember from his buir.

He was...confused, to say the least. But he watched them, kept track of their movements. He wouldn’t lose sight of them, he wouldn’t.

It went off for a few more minutes and Paz decided that he was going to have to do something about his drink so that nobody would stare at him oddly for not drinking for as long as he did. That’s of course when Din decided to show up. 

With another Mandalorian in tow with him. 

They pause for a moment near the entrance, then headed straight for the group Paz was watching, not looking at their surroundings beyond seeing that there were others there. Paz is frozen, unsure of what he should do. He wants to go over to Din, pull him into a hold that would leave him breathless. Wants to ask so many questions, mostly important _‘What the kark have you been getting up to?!?’_

But he’s stopped by the fact that there’s a Mandalorian - an _unknown_ Mandalorian - at Din’s side. Had he found support? Had he found a different Covert of Mandalorians to support him?

Did he even need Paz’s help despite how much effort Paz put into finding him?

He snaps out of his surprised state when he hears Din say,” They took the child,” voice tight as if he wanted to cry, but couldn’t.

It’s enough to get Paz to stand up, to move to the other side of the room. The other Mandalorian - wearing a green helmet and actually having a rangefinder attached to the side of it - turns as he hears Paz’s footsteps, hand at his waist where a pistol sits. He’s ready to shoot Paz down if he’s a threat, obviously protecting Din.

The group also tenses, the one beside the woman with red hair grabbing at something in preparation for a fight. Paz was unknown to all of them, a threat that might need to be dealt with despite the hostility they’d shown towards Din when answering him about helping him get the child back.

Paz continues to make his way to Din, something inside of him wanting to offer comfort as Din’s voice repeats in his head. He sounded broken, so lost and Paz couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything that Din had done for the Covert or how he showed how much care he had for a child he’d only met.

“Din,” Paz starts, once he was close enough, “Din, cuyir gar okay?”

The words were rusty, all said hesitantly to the man. But it was enough to catch Din’s attention. There was the soft sound of his breath catching, loud enough for his helmet’s vocalizer to catch as he turned to face Paz. “Paz? Is it you?”

“Yes,” He answers, moving closer. Din’s breath catches again, closer to sounding like he might cry and that was enough for Paz to sweep the man into his arms and hold him tight. 

Their armour crashes against each other, an awful sound that resulted in people dragging out their weapons. Paz pays no attention to that, only to Din as the man struggles to keep himself from breaking down in the cantine, clutching at Paz’s body, gloved hands gripping his shoulders while pressing his head at the collar of his armour. 

Paz talks to him, voice low as he offers promises to help, to stay at Din’s side after they rescued his son.

At some point, Din pushes Paz away and he willingly lets go. He watches as Din takes a few deep breaths, to steady himself and then looks to the other Mandalorians behind him. “You don’t have to come, Bo-Katan,” Din said. “He can help us now.”

“Will he be able to handle Moff Gideon when you capture him?” She asks, her face decidedly blank. But her voice was filled with the thin veneer of distrust and a hint of snobbish superiority. It causes Paz to stand a bit straighter, to feel the simmering of anger deep in his bones.“Can he do anything besides draw fire when going against him?”

Paz stands to his full height, anger simmering low in his chest. “I can do more than you can. Try anything besides drawing a pistol to fight, aruetii?” He said, voice drawn tight as he takes a step towards her.

That got Bo-Katan to furrow her brow, disgusted at him for questioning her skills, for calling her an outsider. 

But it was deserved for refusing Din’s request to help rescue his child and then insulting him for finding help elsewhere. An eye for an eye, after all.

The other Mandalorian with Bo-Katan stands, angrily staring up at him. “Brave words coming from the Child of the Watch,” She said, words barbed, meant to hurt. ”I’m surprised to find a brain underneath that helmet.”

But it didn’t, couldn’t hurt him. Paz was proud of his heritage and that he took and followed the Creed. There were other ways of digging a knife into his side and twisting it. “Brave against those who won’t take up an offer to take down Gideon just because it was brought to you by a beroya. Talk when you have a leg to stand on, ori'buyce, kih'kovid.”

She snarls, lunging at him. She goes for a punch which he blocks with his forearm, grabbing at her arm before she could pull it away. Paz uses her momentum to flip her as he twisted his body to the side, crashing her back onto a table that was behind him. It wasn’t enough to damage it, but the roughness of it caused the table to skid sideways, dumping her body onto the floor.

She gets up quickly, unfazed as her foot goes for the weaker spot of his armour on his knee. It hits its target, feeling sharp pain and causes Paz’s knee to buckle, making him teeter for a moment. She’s grinning madly as she grabs at his arm and pulls him down, forcing him to fall forward, slipping out of his way so she wouldn’t be crushed under his weight. 

He lands with a thud, everything in him jarring at the impact. Paz growls and flips himself over, blocking a kick that goes for his face. He grips her boot and yanks on it. She stumbles, trying to keep her balance as Paz pulls on it some more. Then she’s tipping sideways when he pulls her foot in a direction, harshly landing on her side. Her armour makes a loud sound as it makes contact with the floor. 

It gives him enough time to get on his knees before she comes at him with her jetpack on and forces him to the floor once more. She’s on top of him for a few moments, grinning as if she won the fight before she’s suddenly pulled off, flung to the side. He sees the Mandalorian with Din standing over him.

“Enough,” The Mandalorian in green firmly says. “Quit fighting or else nobody gets to have a shot at Gideon.”

Paz holds back the retort of _‘She started it!’_ He senses it won’t go over well with anyone in the cantina even if he is right. He gets up, feeling his joints in his knees and hips crack while doing so. 

Din is standing to the side, fingers curling and uncurling as he stares at Paz. Paz feels his guilt swallow him when he’s reminded why he was here, why he even came over in the first place. Pride had gotten the better of him once more and he’d ended up causing Din distress.

He goes over and looks down into Din’s visor, hoping to see something that proved he hadn’t messed this up entirely. “Ni ceta,” He says sincerely. “Din, I didn’t mean-”

“I’m not worried about that,” Din said, cutting him off. “Should have gotten out the moment you said you would help.”

“Better him than me,” The Green Mandalorian said, voice filled with humour. “Probably would have roasted her if she’d fought me.”

“And she would have beaten you,” All of them looked to see Bo-Katan standing. Disgust was still on her face, but now for a different reason. “You are a disgrace to that armour.”

“It belonged to my father,” Green said calmly, shoulders pointed back. He was prepared to fight as he got antagonized by her. Much like the foolish characters who dared to bother a mythosaur in the stories his buir and the other adults in the Covert like to tell.

Paz - with a clear head now - puts a hand to Green’s shoulder, holding him back. “Not worth it. Let’s leave together.” Bo-Katan smugly smiles at this, proud and probably thinking she had driven them off. “Let Din deal with her or else a clan will lose pride at the news of a foolish death of their leader.”

That was enough to get her to blink confusingly and enough for Paz to direct the other Mandalorian towards the door. Paz noticed that Green didn’t resist this, didn’t do anything until they were out the door. Then, with more strength than he expected, Green grabbed him by arm and pushed him back into the wall next to the entrance, his forearm against Paz’s chest, holding him there.

He could feel the waves of some kind of emotion, but Paz was confused as to what it was. He stills, looking down into the other man’s visor, wondering what was going to happen. He hoped this wasn’t how he got killed, he wanted to at least earn his death in battle if he was going to be killed.

“I’ll let you lead me once,” Green said, voice low, but playful. Which was off considering the position. ”But know the next time it’ll be me leading you, boy.”

Paz blinks and feels warmth grow in his stomach at what the other Mandalorian might be implying. Images try to sneak their way into his mind, but he brushes them aside as he answers,” It was better to be out of her sight. Smug ika osi’kovid. Not even worth the shit beneath my boots.”

Green chuckles, voice deep as he takes a step back from Paz. “True. But Din’s willing to bring her on if he can get his kid back.”

“Yes,” Paz said, unsure of where to go from there. “At least he has you to cover him.”

Green tilts his head at that statement. Then, “I’m Boba Fett, Paz.”

Shab, of course, Din would manage to find the one infamous bounty hunter and earn his respect. And drag him into this to find the kid. 

Paz sighs, tilting his head back against the wall. He can tell Boba is smirking when he says,” You Din’s boyfriend or something?”

“Someone at the Covert he knew,” Paz replies stiltedly. Now, where would Boba get the idea that they were a couple? Paz admired Din, knew that the man had done so much for the Covert despite the disagreements they would get about which jobs he took sometimes.

But it definitely didn’t mean attraction.

“How’d you meet him?”

“He got back my armour for me,” Boba said simply. He takes off his helmet, smirking up at Paz. He wasn’t surprised at this, knew that there were rare occasions that the beroya took off his helmet.“Was even willing to fight me over it since he didn’t know who I was at the time.”

It reminded him of what started this journey, of why he was even here. It also reminded him how stubborn Din was when he was trying to protect something he deemed important. “Tried to fight you with a vicroblade?”

“Blastor.”

Paz hums, amused. “Aw, he likes you.”

“I think he likes you more if he used that to get up close and personal with you.”

Boba was suggesting things again, trying to fit a piece of the puzzle that wasn’t there. Paz huffs out a sigh, not understanding why the other man was doing that. 

Before he could say anything else, Din came out of the cantina. His shoulders are relaxed and turn his attention to the two of them. “They’re going to join us. They have the last known location of Gideon.”

“Good,” Boba says, moving to stand closer to Din. “Have them share that information with us. We’re taking my ship.”

Paz thought Din would protest, would suggest the Razor Crest since it would be able to hold everyone. Din didn’t like being out of control when it came to matters like this. But Paz watches as Din nods, holding up a chip in his palm, handing it to Boba. 

Boba smiles and takes it. “You’re a cyar’ika Din.” Then with fingers wrapped around the back of Din’s neck, he gently pulls him down to do a keldabe kiss with him.

Paz knew that Din was blushing at both the word and the action. But Paz also felt something deep in his gut, something that wanted to burn, bright and fast at the sight that he was seeing. It wasn’t jealousy, no, it was something else entirely and Paz wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

He squeezes his eyes shut, hoping that ignoring it would be easier than examining what he was feeling. He would help Din, no matter what was going on.

Why did he feel like that wasn’t going to work out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ner Cyare Kando Daad - My Beloved was Weight/Weighted Down  
> Beroya - Bounty Hunter  
> Riduur - Partner, Husband, Wife  
> Ade - Child  
> Shab - Fuck  
> Cuyir gar - Are you  
> Aruetii - Outsider  
> Ori'buyce, kih'kovid - All helmet, no head (Common term of derision for someone with an overdeveloped sense of authority.)  
> Ni ceta - Sorry (lit: I kneel) grovelling apology - rare  
> Ika osi’kovid - Little Shithead  
> Cyar’ika - Sweetheart, Darling 
> 
> Here's my short fic! Couldn't resist writing this when I saw a few fics for Boba/Paz/Din. It's gonna be about 3 chapters long and follow the plot of the last episode of season two since I want someone (or in this case, two people) to give Din comfort over losing his son. The man needs some comfort after that :(
> 
> Hopefully, it was a fun chapter to read!


	2. Chapter Two

He stands at the back of the room, watching and listening as Bo-Katan over the plan with a holomap. She gets help from a captured Imperial Doctor, someone who makes Paz want to roll his shoulders. There was something wrong there, something about the man that didn’t settle right with him. But he kept his mouth shut, kept to himself as the details came in, filling in the cracks of what they were supposed to do when finding Gideon’s ship.

That is until Din said he wanted to go alone to get the child.

Paz tilts his head, curious and then makes his way to the front, standing by Din’s side. “I go along with him.” Bo-Katan turns her head to stare at him, a disapproving look on her face for butting in. “Were you going to pair me up with Boba just to get away from me?” He mocked, smirking. 

She stands a bit straighter, looking up at his black visor. “I figured Boba would appreciate a good fighter with him.”

“I’m Heavy Infantry, I’m better on the ground. Either use me competently or leave me behind.” Paz says, taking a step closer. He would fight her again if needed, he wasn’t about to be pushed around by her. Paz gets pulled back by the elbow, Din keeping him from getting closer.

“No, I’ll go alone to get him,” Din firmly. Paz blinked in surprise but grinned anyway at the shorter man.

“You need back up. He,” Paz starts as he points towards the Imperial doctor,” mentioned that these Dark Troopers will be kriffing hard to take down.”

“And that’s where you’ll be most effective?” Bo-Katan questioned,” With him?”

“You have a team. He has a spear and his anger,” Paz shoots back, tired of her already. “He needs back up, someone who’s good at taking down enemies.” He looks at Din, smirking at a memory from long ago as he said, “He remembers our spars.”

Din sighs as if defeated by this whole conversation. “Fine, he comes with me.”

“Here,” Fennec said, taking something off the Imperial doctor and handing Din something that was small and slender,” take his code cylinder and seal off the holding bay for the troopers. It’ll save you time in fighting them off while he goes to get the kid.”

She was smart. And competent. Paz liked her since she sent him a playful smirk the moment Boba dropped her off to be part of the plan. “Thanks.”

“We’ll meet at the bridge,” Din said, turning to go. Paz nodded and tried to not follow after him, knowing it was only a few moments Din could steal to say goodbye to Boba.

There was still this weird feeling in his gut as he remembers the Keldabe from earlier. It makes Paz want to squirm despite being happy for Din that he found someone who can pick him back up when his emotions got the better of him. Paz didn’t know what to think of this feeling, didn’t understand what he should do to unravel it so he could begin to understand it.

Internally sighing, Paz goes to a corner of the room, planning to be as far as he could from Bo-Katan and her little follower. He begins to look over his weapons, checking that each was in good condition and that he could use them in a fight if needed. It allowed him to focus on something else, something that he wasn't in his own mind.

But that left the question of why Paz was feeling that way.

He admired Din, had since he saw how much Din was doing as the Beroya to make sure the Covert and the foundlings got what they needed. He might have let his anger lash out at Din for accepting the beskar from the Imps - pride and shame paired together made a fool of everyone regardless of who they were - but he understood the choice Din had made after fleeing Nevarro himself.

There are no easy choices when it comes to living with the rest of the population. You either had to trade something in order to survive to the next day, regardless of your personal beliefs or die for being unable to compromise. That also doesn’t account for how the New Republic doesn’t have a grasp on the Outer Rim as they liked to believe. There was a reason why fragments of Imperial troops thought they could hang out in the Outer Rim without consequences.

He admired Din, but it didn’t help him explain this feeling in his gut. 

He knew he liked Boba, could imagine the two of them going rough with each other on a berth if Boba wasn’t involved with Din. But that didn’t explain anything either since Boba kept putting down little hints about Paz and Din.

Paz didn’t understand and it made him wish he could talk to the Armorer. She was good at this, good at getting him to find the conclusion to the feelings that tangled themselves together.

It’s at this point that someone sits next to him, interrupting his thoughts. He sees that it’s Cara, one of Din’s friends. She was a former Rebel trooper from the tattoos on her arm and she looked as if she would take him in a spar if he asked.

“You got a name?” She asks, starting the conversation.

“Paz,” He tells her. “You’re Cara, Din’s friend.”

She smiles with a glint in her eye and Paz knew she was watching him. Prodding at his reactions, seeing who he was as a person. Smart, but in a different way from Fennec. “And you knew him before he had the kid. What was he like?”

Paz holds the vicroblade in his hands, thinking for a moment. Then,” Quiet. Kept to himself. Always coming and going from the Covert.”

She nods along, looking over at the doorway where Din had left. Then,” He was distraught to find everybody except the Armorer gone when he returned to the Covert. Tried to stay with her to fight off the Storm Troopers.”

“He should have known she had herself covered,” Paz says, smiling. “She always managed to best everyone who sparred her.”

“I think the fact that she managed to convince him to leave with the kid with only a few words earned my respect,” Cara said. “He has an issue in listening to others, trying to keep to his creed even if it would be easier to break it sometimes.”

Paz a few months before would have lectured her on the pride it was to take the Creed and keep it for the rest of their lives. That nobody who hadn’t trained or knew why they had to obscure their faces, identities to keep safe should speak about the Creed that way. As if it were something elusive and unnecessary for living a day to day life.

But now, seeing Din’s face in the Imperial database, seeing how desperate Din was to find his kid, he couldn’t say anything. Not without revealing anything to her that Din - who he definitely didn’t tell or else she would be closer to his side to keep an eye on him - took off his helmet and broke his Creed.

“He has pride in his role,” Paz said softly. He puts away the vicroblade, taking out a heavy blaster to look over. “He’s always been trying to prove his part of the Covert and when he was offered to be the beroya, to provide money for everyone else, he took it. It offered pride and a way for him to follow his Creed.”

Cara looks at him, stares as if solving a complex problem. Paz checks to make sure the blaster has enough rounds, letting her look. She couldn’t see underneath the armour, no matter how hard she stared.

Only others who wore their armours with pride, as their face to the world and to each other could see underneath his.

As he put the blaster back in its sling, she spoke up. “How did you find him if you left the Covert that was on Nevarro?”

“Used some people that the Armorer had kept up with the news of the galaxy,” He answered. He wouldn’t tell her, would keep Din’s secret for him. Paz had his back, knew that Din needed to focus on rescuing his kid. “They pointed me in the right direction when I asked to find him.”

Cara raised an eyebrow, not believing his story. But she didn’t push any further since Din came walking back into the room. Paz watched him as he went up to Bo-Katan, quietly talking to her about Boba’s part in the plan.

Paz continues to stare, a feeling fluttering in his chest as he sees Din handle Bo-Katan without kicking up much of a fuss.

____________

It’s not much longer that they take off. He stays at Din’s side in the cockpit, watching as Bo-Katan and her follower guide the ship into hyperspace in the front. Fennec takes the last seat - another layer between them and Bo-Katan, thankfully - laying her weapon across her lap while giving a nod to Cara who continues to stand near the front.

It was quiet for most of the journey, only murmurs being spoken in the space between all of them. It’s why Paz jumps slightly when Din puts a hand on his arm, right above the crook of his elbow, pulling him towards the back of the cockpit. Turning his head, he sees that Din is looking up into his visor.

“What?” He quietly asks, confused when they finally reached the back wall.

Din ducks his head, either embarrassed or amused. It was sometimes hard to tell with Din when Paz couldn’t hear the tone of his voice. “You stop the Dark Troopers while I get the kid,” Din said, looking back up.

“I thought that was implied when I said I was coming with you.” Paz twists his body, facing Din. Din didn’t move his hand from Paz’s arm, keeping it there. That made something in his stomach swoop, almost exhilarating if it didn’t make his body also want to shake like a frightened tooka. “Don’t think your kid would leave the brig unless it was with you.”

“No, he wouldn’t.” Din moves his hand up Paz’s arm, resting it where his clavicle would be if he wasn’t wearing his armour. Warmth bloomed there, sinking beneath his skin and it makes Paz still as Din says,” But he would like you. Kids always liked you, Paz.” 

“Yeah,” Paz answers, feeling like he could combust from his heart beating fast and the flashes of warmth in his chest and cheeks. Was this what Boba was talking about? Hinting at only a few hours before?

Maybe Paz was a fool for not taking note of the older man’s words earlier.

Din nods and pulls his hand away, leaving Paz feeling cold and a bit lost. He doesn’t reach for Din, doesn’t try anything when they walk back to the front. He couldn’t be focused on whatever was going between them, they had the kid to rescue and Moff Gideon to take down. They could deal with it afterwards when things were settled and they could focus on each other.

It doesn’t mean that Paz doesn’t feel the urge to hold Din’s hand though. Grip it tight so that the other man knows that he wasn’t alone during this mission.

Before he could give in to that urge, Bo-Katan speaks up, addressing everyone. “Moff Gideon is mine, got it?”

Paz keeps himself from saying what he thinks about her demands for the man. He knows his place in the plan and he doesn’t need Bo-Katan messing up to be petty at him. Cara, however, spoke up, asserting herself without issue. “He’s ex-ISB. He’s got a lot of information that the New Republic can use. I need him alive.”

Paz watches as Bo-Katan turns her head to face Cara, most likely making a face that he bets would make his blood boil if he saw it. She thinks highly of herself, in a way that grates on Paz. “I don’t care what happens to him as long as he surrenders to me.” She said, stiff and barely containing her annoyance.

“Prepare to exit jump space,” Paz relaxes at the gruff voice coming over the comm, reminding him that Boba would be around to keep any help the Imps might call for. And that if Bo-Katan did try anything outside the plan with them, he would make her answer for it.

(Not like Paz wouldn’t be doing that himself, but it was nice to have someone who felt similarly.)

He misses what Bo-Katan said in reply, but he does catch Boba saying princess - said with all the mockery and smugness that Boba can inflict on the word - and Paz has to tilt his head forward in order to keep himself from doing anything that could be seen as amused by it.

They exit hyperspace and immediately the act is on, Boba chasing them in the Slave I as they headed towards the Imperial Cruiser. Paz grabs for the back of Fennec’s chair with one hand to keep himself steady while the other hand braces against Din’s shoulder to keep him from tipping over as Bo-Katan pleads for docking while her follower swings the ship back and forth to ‘avoid’ Boba’s shots.

He sees through the windshield a few TIE fighters coming to help, barely missing them as they tried to go after the Slave I. Paz kept his grip on the chair, moving with the motion of the ship as they continued to put on the act of being chased by an enemy. He feels Din doing the same, using his hand to keep steady as well. 

Bo-Katan continues to plead with the person over the comm, keeping up the act until they head for the launch tube. Paz had to give her credit here, it was convincing enough to get the Imps in a state that allowed for them to land on the cruiser without interference from the crew on it.

But it didn’t mean he didn’t let out curses when the ship roughly landed in the strip, scrapping over metal since there was too much momentum to stop completely. Paz pulls Din close to his body, holding tight as he braces himself against Fennec’s chair as the ship continues to slide into the docking bay.

It stops at some point, giving them a moment to take in what happened. Then without saying a word, they head down to the ramp, all pulling out their weapons to aim. The plan had started and they all knew their roles.

As the Storm Troopers come close to the ship, Paz looks through his HUD in his helmet to pinpoint them through the smoke that their ship was releasing and taking a shot when they got close enough. It hits, causing the trooper to fall down, close to death since plastoid armour means osik against a good shot.

He takes a few more before letting everyone but Din get ahead of him to take down the rest of the troopers in the docking bay. They wait until there are no more sounds of blaster shots before going down the ramp themselves. The troopers are all laid on the ground either dead or close to death as they make their way to the brig with the map Paz had programmed into his helmet. 

Their footsteps are light as they move, prepared to make a shot if there were any stray troopers in the halls. Carefully turning corners, Paz makes sure to keep Din in his line of sight, worried about him. It was easy so far, but something in his gut said there was something, something that was going to happen.

It was Moff Gideon’s ship, there had to be something that would bring difficulty.

It came in the form of an alarm blaring as they got closer to the Dark Troopers. Paz gripped his weapons, prepared to shoot if any had left their hold. They turned the corner and were greeted by the doors just opening up.

Paz moves quickly ahead, aiming and shooting his blaster at the droids as Din said with panic “No, _NO!”_

It only takes three blaster bolts to notice that the Dark Troopers were immune to them. And it only takes a second to realize that the cylinder Din puts into the panel to prevent the droids from escaping wasn’t quick enough since one of them grabbed at the edge of the doors and pulled it open enough to take a swing at him.

Paz goes flying, his back scraping the floor as he drops his blaster and hitting the wall which stopped him. There’s sudden pain and it aches as Paz forces himself to stand, watching as the droid comes closer. It takes Din’s shots, not even looking at him as it continues to go after Paz, its eyes glowing red as it reaches for him.

He hears himself shouting, _” Go! Go get the kid, I’ll be fine!”_ as it grabs his right arm, pushing it back far enough that he stiffens as he’s pressed to the wall. His body screams at the restriction and the pain chimes in from where he crashed into the wall. Paz doesn’t know if Din left yet, doesn’t know if the fool is staying to help him escape. What he does know is that it starts to punch him, repeatedly.

Paz struggles to move, trying to escape its grip as his helmet takes a beating. His skull meets the back of the helmet forcefully, each hit making him dizzier as it hits the wall behind him. He moves his other arm and uses the whipcord thrower attached to his vambrace to hook around the arm that's punching him, to pull tight.

It stops when it notices that it can’t move freely and Paz almost sighs with relief as it looks at him. Then without warning, it tosses him, his body being thrown to the floor. He scrambles up, turning around so he can face it, pulling the whipcord tight once more so he can restrict its movement. It doesn’t stop the droid from using a leg to land a kick square to the chest.

The force from the kick forces him down, collapsing in front of it since he’s still attached to the whipcord. Paz harshly pants as he feels his left arm gets yanked backwards, almost as if the Dark Trooper was trying to pull it out of its socket. He hardly feels the shots it takes, his armour protecting him as he’s trying to catch his breath.

Paz doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know what can stop it. He doesn’t even know if he can stop it before it destroys his armour and crushes him beneath its metal feet. 

He releases the whipcord, feeling relief when there’s no pressure on his arm anymore. It aches, same as his back, but it’s better than nothing. He looks up at the red eyes, wondering if this is how he earns his death, giving Din the chance to grab his child and run.

He didn’t get to tell Din about what he might be feeling, doesn’t get to see the joy the man will feel when he’s reunited with Boba after this. He should feel sad, should feel devastation for not getting to do things that’ll make him happy. But all he can focus on is the Dark Trooper as it moves forward, ready to end him.

It happens in a second, but it’s enough for Paz to pause when he sees something stick through the droid’s neck causing it to spark. The weapon shifts, enough that its head comes off from its neck as sparks run down, killed.

It falls to the ground with a crash, leaving Paz with the image of Din standing, holding the beskar spear in his hands, every bit mandokar in that moment that it makes Paz’s head swim. 

Din comes forward, kneeling in front of him to hold Paz’s helmet in his hands. He takes notice that Din’s hands are shaking as if he were afraid, scared of what would happen to Paz if the droid hadn’t been stopped. He nuzzles into Din’s gloved hands, glad that Din stuck around to help him. Din lets out a gasp and pulls him forward, and relaxes, sighs when Din presses his forehead to his.

It’s a rough keldabe kiss, one filled with every kind of emotion that Paz can’t catch them all. But he lets Din take control, let’s him hold Paz for as long as he needs because he’s tired and hurt and wants a moment to rest.

“Are you okay?” Din asks, voice soft and trembling. He’s still clutching Paz’s helmet, almost like he was afraid to let go.

“Probably need my arm checked out after this, but nothing that can’t stop me from helping you.” He said, voice quiet and also tired. ”Come on, let’s find your kid.”

Din nods. He helps Paz stand up, consciously taking the arm that wasn’t strained. He then hands Paz his blaster, looking down like he was embarrassed. Paz smiles and pulls Din close to him. “Quit worrying about me, focus on the kid.”

“Lek, lek,” And with that, they head towards the brig.

____________

There are Storm Troopers guarding the brig when they peek around the corner. Paz, aims his blaster, taking down the one while Din goes to take down the other with the spear, catching the trooper off guard by stabbing in-between the armour into the joint of the knee. As the trooper screams in pain, Din goes for the kill by hooking the spear underneath the plastoid helmet and choking them out, holding them off the ground so they don’t gain leverage.

Paz comes around the corner right as he breaks the trooper's neck, dropping them to the floor. He stands behind him as Din uses the panel to open up the door to the brig. The second it opens, Paz stills, seeing Gideon holding - shab it’s the Darksaber, something his buir spoke about since Pre Vizsla had it before losing it in a duel to a darjetii in the final months of the Clone Wars - over the child’s head.

The message was clear. Take one step and he would behead them.

Paz’s blood boils at the sight. He’s partly enraged that a sacred weapon as the Darksaber is in the hands of the Imperial shabuir, but is mostly furious that Gideon would hold it over a child.

Din takes a step forward, hands up. Pz follows, making sure to keep a step behind the man. They takes a few more into the brig before Gideon speaks up. “Drop your blaster, both of you.”

Din does it without hesitation. Paz takes a moment to comply, glaring at Gideon. “Kick them over to me,” Gideon says, once Paz puts his blaster on the floor. 

They both do it and Paz can feel the hope drain from the room, Gideon having the complete upper hand here. There has to be a way they could get the child without harm, there has to.

“Give me the kid,” Din said, firm, but soft enough to sound more like a request than a demand. “I just want him.”

“You don’t want this?” Gideon asked, moving the Darksaber over the kid’s head as if threatening to cut it off. The kid didn’t move, only stared at their buir with their big black eyes, tired and chained up. The saber hummed softly with the motion and the black colour of the blade looked as if it lingered a second behind when moving. Something that made Paz blink in surprised confusion. 

So that’s what the Darksaber looked like in motion. A beautiful weapon and it was being used by an aruetii.

“No, I just want the kid back,” Din said. 

“It used to belong to Bo-Katan,” Gideon said, switching tactics. That caught both of their attention, staring at the man with surprise. Paz takes a step forward, wanting the Darksaber back. He couldn’t let her have it, not after everything. “Yes, I know you’ve been travelling with Bo-Katan. She didn’t tell you why she was after me, made you believe it was to rescue your child, correct?”

When they didn’t answer, Gideon continued to speak. His voice was soft, in control and Paz hated that the shabuir could be like that against two Mandalorians standing in front of him. “A friendly piece of advice, assume I know everything. Like the fact that your friend here is injured and has durasteel armour.”

The threat - Paz wouldn’t survive against Gideon since the saber would cut right through his armour.

“And that means anything to us shab’troan?” Paz growls out. He was tired of Gideon and just wanted to help Din get his kid back.

Gideon continues, unbothered by Paz’s aggression. “Bo-Katan is probably at the bridge with her team that you provided for her, seeking me. Or more accurately, this.” He holds up the Darksaber, the start of a smile on his lips. “But I’m not there. They’ve killed everyone there and yet, I’m not there. They’re beginning to panic since, you see, she wants this.”

Gideon pauses, twisting the saber in his hands. “Do you know why?”

“Whoever has it, has the right to the throne on Mandalore,” Paz replies, voice weak. He sees Din tilt his head, confused. But Paz knew the history, knew what it meant to the clan, his name. 

Vizsla was a clan that held onto the Darksaber through generations, hoping one day to take the throne since Terre Vizsla was the start for them. Pre Vizsla was closest in recent decades, losing out because he wasn’t strong enough against a darjetii who tricked him.

If Paz could get his hand on it, he could do something with his name, bring back the glory of Mandalore.

“Correct,” Gideon said, his smile getting bigger. 

“You keep it. I just want the kid.” Din said, calm.

Paz would beret him for throwing away such important history, but he knew that Din never cared about power. He just wanted his kid and nothing would stand in the way of that.

Gideon looks between the kid and the saber, almost confused. Then, “Very well.” The blade returns to the hilt and honestly, that’s the freakiest part for Paz, that it could do that. “I’ve already got what I wanted from him.”

That spikes Paz’s blood again. What were they doing to the child? Why was it so important?

Paz knew this had to be a trap, Imps never let go of anything. They’re still hanging onto the galaxy now, what was Gideon’s angle?

“I just wanted his blood, to study it.” And that was the thing that broke him. 

Paz went flying, ramming and crushing Gideon to the wall, holding him up by his arms without pause. Gideon activated the Darksaber, but couldn’t use it against him, trapped by Paz’s strength and bulk even if he was injured. “You’re sick, treating a child like that,” Paz growls out. He was angry, so angry and he couldn’t be stopped. “What would you _want_ with his blood!?!”

“He’s extremely gifted,” Gideon starts saying,” and has been blessed with rare properties that could bring order back to the galaxy.”

Paz chuckles dark, getting close to the man’s face. For once he saw hesitation and it felt good to see that from an Imps' face. They deserved something to shake the ground beneath their feet for all they’ve done. “It was never in order, shab’troan. Take it from a Mandalorian, nothing can be united permanently.”

He slides his hand up Gideon’s arm, wrapping his gloved hands around the man's wrist and the bottom of his palm. Then he started crushing it enough so that Gideon’s bones in his hand started to creak. He applied more pressure, crushing it even further, forcing Gideon’s hand to start folding inwards and made him drop the Darksaber.

It sliced through the bench, sticking straight up, humming. Paz smiles, wishing he could bite the man’s throat like a predator would do to end the hunt. Instead, he reels his head back and swings it forward, cracking the helmet against Gideon’s head. It struck the bridge of his nose, blood streaming out and down his face.

It was undoubtedly broken - and close to fatal harm by the way Gideon’s eyes flickered everywhere, unable to focus on anything. Paz’s smile grew wider and he swung his head, helmet cracking against Gideon’s head once more, satisfied when he felt the man crumble into his arms.

He hauls him up onto the shoulder with the least damaging injury, looking to see that Din is cradling his child. It was a sight that made Paz stop, taking it in since Din pulled his helmet up for the child to see his face, pressing his forehead to the child's. Paz only catches sight of the side profile of his face and yet, he knew it was so much more than that.

He quickly turns his attention to the Darksaber, sticking out of the bench. With his injured arm, he pulls it out by its handle.

It came out easily, sliding through the metal of the bench as if it were liquid. Paz stares at it, memorized. Finally, it was back where it belonged. 

In a Vizsla’s hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Osik - Shit  
> Darjetii - Sith  
> Shab - Fuck  
> Shabuir - Motherfucker  
> Shab'troan - Fuck face  
> Aruetii - Outsider
> 
> I come bearing a new chapter since I accidentally got ahead in two of my classes and decided to use the free time to write this out. I was originally gonna end with Din taking the Darksaber similar to the episode, that was my plan. But Paz decided to change that by being himself and here we are with the chapter end. 
> 
> Definitely excited to write the last chapter out, you guys have no idea.
> 
> Hopefully, it was a fun chapter to read! :D


	3. Chapter Three

Din holds his child close to his chest, a father and son reunited. Paz watches as the man keeps having to loosen his grip to keep from clutching the child to death as they walk to the bridge. He can’t blame Din for feeling that way, he can clearly see that the child means so much to him. Paz just wishes that he didn’t have to leave him, didn’t have to go rally up the members of the Covert to start Mandalore. 

But he knew it would have to happen. Din needs to be kept hidden, safe from the Imps and the New Republic alike. Paz could still keep an eye on him, afar while he performed his duties as Mandal’or.

He just didn’t know what to do with this feeling of longing in his chest, given life after Din holding him as if he were afraid that Paz would perish in front of him. Maybe he was, maybe he had the same feeling as Paz and didn’t know what to do with it either.

They could discuss it once they were done with this, once they had no prying eyes from aruetii looking at them.

They reached the bridge and were greeted by the image of dead Storm Troopers around the room and Bo-Katan staring out the window. She turns, sees the two of them and her whole face curls, disgusted mixed with surprise at what she’s looking at. Paz ignores her, dumping Gideon into one of the chairs, careful to avoid hitting anything with the Darksaber - as he had yet to find out how he can make it return to its sheath.

  
  


Turning towards Cara, he said,” He’s all yours.”

“Is he alive?” She questioned.

“A little roughed up, but he’ll be fine once he wakes up in a cell,” Paz said with a smile. He sees the twitch of a smile on her face, there and then gone, likely amused by the Imperial shab being injured and unconscious on the ride back to Nevarro.

From the edges of his helmet, he sees Bo-Katan moving around the console, her eyes wide and face now filled with shock. Paz follows her movement, walking around the same console, never giving her the satisfaction of being close to him. 

“What happened?” She asked, her voice wavering slightly.

“What do you mean, he got Gideon for you,” Cara said, confused as she turned to look at Bo-Katan. Everyone else keeps to the side, watching as they see two Mandalorians start to pace like a predator

“No, what happened? Why do  _ you _ have the Darksaber?” Bo-Katan turns from shock to anger, her voice growing a few octaves higher as she starts walking faster. “How did  _ you _ win it?!”

Paz smirks, picking up the pace as well. “I won it.” He said simply. “I won it from him.” He waves the Darksaber at the unconscious Gideon, the hum of it making the point clear. “I took it from Gideon since he was harming the child. Were you expecting to take it from him under the guise of helping him get his child back?”

“Yes,” She said, not hiding her motives now. Paz stops walking, anger deep in his gut. 

“And you didn’t think to tell him? Or others involved besides you little follower?” He holds the saber in front of him, seeing the thin lines of white dancing along with the black void of the blade. His anger grew, tired of Bo-Katan and her need to be the one in charge, in deceiving a father of details that might put his child in harm's way. ”Do you not honour the creed you took? Or is being handed the silver spoon from your buir enough for you to think that you deserve the blade I hold?”

“What makes you any better?” She snaps at him, getting closer,” What makes you more worthy to hold it than someone from the Kryze clan?”

Oh, it was too easy. “I am Paz Vizsla, part of the Vizsla clan. What right does the Kryze, outsiders from the moment they step on Mandalore, have to hold the blade?”

That had her close her mouth, lips tightening to a thin line. She could fight him for it, could claim it back if she beat him. But she knew that couldn’t do it without telling others that she took it from a Vizsla. That a heritage longer and more important than hers was stripped from the throne, was stripped of having a rightful leader leading them.

He smirks, moving back towards Din, knowing he’d won. Even if she did try to fight him out of anger, she would risk the chance of losing the right to the Darksaber twice today. If that were to happen, it would only give him more leverage to be on the throne.

He looks over the Darksaber, seeing a button on the hilt. He presses it and it returns to its sheath, same as it did before when Gideon did. Then he clips it to his belt, letting it hang there, ready to be used if needed. 

As he does this, the alarms on the consoles go off, alerting them to something happening to the ship. Paz gets close to Din as Fennec says,” The ray shields have been breached, we’re being boarded.”

“How many are there?” Cara asks, picking up her heavy blaster. It settles in her hand, a familiar weapon that she’s probably used since she was a rebel trooper. 

“None,” Fennec said, looking up from the screen.

There was some confusion from all of them, stretching out for a few moments. Then it dawned on him that it was the Dark Troopers. Shab! Of course, releasing them into space wasn’t going to stop them, they’re droids!

“It’s the Dark Troopers,” He said, voice tight.”It’s the rest of them. “

Everyone recoiled in some way, following his trail of thought and having the same realization that he did. Din curled himself further over the child and pressed as close as he could get to Paz, probably remembering how much damage the one droid had inflicted on him.

Bo-Katan’s little follower followed the path that the droids were taking through the ship on all the cameras. Flickering between each of them, Bo-Katan said after a moment of watching, “They’re heading towards the bridge.”

“Probably programmed to find him if something goes wrong,” Cara said with a kick to the chair where he still laid, slumped on his own body. It didn’t move him beyond his head going from one shoulder to the other, but it was enough to remember that he was here.

Causing issues even while unconscious.

“We have to seal the blast doors,” Fennec said. Bo-Katan’s little follower silently pushed the button, closing another layer to the doors that he and Din walked through minutes before.

All of them started to pick up weapons, pulling some from the dead Storm Troopers since they were going to be needed. Paz hears Din talking softly to his son, promising him that they would get out of this, that they would be safe soon. Silence graced them as they stood away from the door, weapons in their hands to be used, waiting for the Dark Troopers to push their way through the doors.

Silence. That’s all there was as the seconds stretched on. 

Then there was the sound of something slamming against the metal. Paz peeked at the screen that was across from the doors and saw that the first two droids of many were using their hands to batter against the metal. It caused dents to appear, caving in with each punch that they gave. The sound caused the seal doors to shake, start to split open as it tried to protect against the onslaught from the droids.

He hears the others shuffling, readying their weapons. They watched as the seal doors continued to crack open, unable to stand the pressure of the droids on the other side. Paz would say it’s oisk craftsman shift on the Imperial Army’s part, but he knew it was done on purpose for this exact reason. Droids can be programmed not to kill someone, keep them safe in a situation that Gideon found himself in.

As it got wide enough to see the other side, another alert came from the console. Paz looks towards it, hearing one of the others exclaim that there was an X-Wing. He didn’t know if they were friend or foe, only that there was a possibility that this new person could be used as a distraction for him and Din to escape with the child.

He watches on the screen as the X-Wing boards the freighter, not answering Bo-Katan’s question to identify themselves. Paz should be feeling a sense of dread, something that should spell out their doom at the lack of answer or knowledge of who was coming onto the ship. But there was a feeling of calm, the steadiness of things would turn out okay.

Even when the Dark Troopers stopped their track on the doors, that feeling didn’t disappear, it only grew. 

Paz watched on the screen as the Dark Troopers took out their weapons and turned to face the new stranger. The stranger came, cloak over their head and covering their body as they walked down the halls, confident in what they had to do. Paz saw a saber, similar to the Darksaber appearing from beneath the cloak and saw how they used it to hit blaster shots back at the droids and knew deep in his gut that this person was here to rescue them.

From beside him, Bo-Katan said softly,” A Jedi?” and there was Din, right at his side, looking on the screen with them. The kid was in his arms, looking at the screen with similar interest.

The Jedi took the Dark Troopers with ease, using the saber to cut them down and something else with their hands that forced the droids back. Paz watched in fascination wondering who this could be. Who could have such power and hide themselves away in the galaxy from the Imps?

Someone had to have noticed, someone had to have tried to take them at some point. Look at what happened to Din’s child, how could they have avoided it for so long?

The Jedi reached the elevator and the kid reached out with his tiny hands, three fingers pressed against the screen. Din pulled Paz close, his head burying itself into the side of his arm. He looks at the other man, wondering what this could be. There was something about the Jedi that had the two of them acting strange and he didn’t understand what it meant.

But he couldn’t ask, not yet. Not while the Jedi exited the elevator and took on the Dark Troopers that were minutes before taking down the seal doors. It was a tight space and yet the Jedi took them down gracefully, not getting a single scratch. With the last one, they even crushed it to death, leaving it on the floor as they headed towards the doors.

The kid finally turned away from the screen, looking at Din. Paz watched as something passed between them, something he likely wasn’t ever going to understand. But he knew he felt relief when Din asked to open the doors.

Paz reached over to the button when nobody else would, knowing that whatever Din decided was the right one. He trusted the kid and in turn, Paz trusted Din.

It opens with everyone but Din looking at him. As if he were crazy to go along with this. But he wasn’t, he knew he wasn’t. He stands behind Din, watching as everything starts to unfold.

In through the smoke of damaged circuitry, the Jedi walked through, their saber glowing a bright green. The cloak still covered their face and yet, there was a calm feeling around them. The saber disappears similarly to the Darksaber, clipping it to the belt that was hidden away.

Then, without much fanfare, the Jedi pulls the hood back and reveals a young man. He had to be no older than his mid-twenties and yet there was a look on his face that said he was far older. He looked friendly enough, staring at Din and Paz and then the child with his hands crossed in front of his body. Paz steps close to Din, there to hold him if needed.

Carefully, Din asked,” Are you a Jedi?”

“I am.” Simple and yet there was so much behind those two words. Din didn’t say anything else as the Jedi held out a hand to the child. “Come little one.”

Paz stiffened up, but he made no move to do anything. The child wasn’t his and he was clearly missing something as the kid and Din looked at each other. There was a soft coo and Din turned his attention back to the Jedi. “He doesn’t want to go with you.” There was relief in his voice, but also wariness.

The Jedi tilts his head, curious. He looks between Din and Paz, eyes sparkling with something that Paz couldn’t understand. Then,” He wants your permission. He is strong with the Force, but without proper guidance, his talent will mean nothing.”

“Will you protect him?” Paz asks. It was the only thing he wanted to know, the only thing he could offer in helping Din. “Will you protect him as your own? With as much hardship and sacrifice as Din has given these past few months? Will you let him see his buir when needed?”

The Jedi looks at him, blue eyes looking over his form. Paz didn’t back down, looking at the man as if he were a foundling he was training. He might be more powerful than Paz, but Paz was willing to make sure that the child was protected in every way.

“Yes, I’ll protect the child with everything I have. He’ll be safe under my care while I train him.”

“Good,” Turning to Din he sees the way the man tucks his chin, his shoulder reaching the edge of the helmet. He moves towards the kid, picking them up, cradling them in his arms.

“Go on, go with him. That’s who you belong with, he’s one of your kind,” These words were spoken with a sad tone, one that would lead to tears. Paz watches as Din holds them closer to his face, speaking,” I’ll see you again. I promise.” 

The kid reaches to lightly touch the side of Din’s helmet and the way his shoulders shake, Paz knew he was starting to cry. He doesn’t step forward, doesn’t offer a word as Din pulls off his helmet, staring at his kid with those beautiful brown eyes that Paz remembered from their youth.

The kid does the same motion again, lightly touching the side of Din’s face, staring at his buir. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes as witnessed this moment, this soft and tender moment between a father and son, but he kept them back, knowing that he couldn’t ruin this moment for them.

“Alright, pal, it’s time to go.” A soft whine from the kid and Din said,” Don’t be afraid.”

Then the kid was gently put on the ground, expected to walk over to the Jedi. Paz hardly hears when an R2 unit comes beeping in cheerfully, paying attention to Din. The man’s hair was flattened weirdly in places due to the helmet, but it was endearing with the brown eyes that looked as if a young calf of a bantha who was taking in everything of the world.

There was sadness etched onto his face, but Paz saw the laughter lines around his eyes and his mouth, something that he hadn’t expected to see from the man. And probably wouldn’t see for a while now.

He hears the Jedi say, “May the Force be with you,” as he carries the child back to the X-Wing. Silence heavily presses down on them as they walk away.

There was the sound of breathing trying to contain sobs and Paz finally moved forward to offer Din a tight hold. Without even getting his arms all the way open, Din crashes into him, shuddering and gasping as if to prevent himself from breaking down while the kid was close by.

Paz holds him close, mumbling words in Mando’a to give him comfort. Din would be a mess, would be for a while. Be he would be there to help him and give him a purpose while his son learns all that he can to protect him.

This was the Way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna have this be much longer, but then, of course, I had to end a spot in a way that was too perfect to continue. The curses of writing, especially with these two lol.
> 
> I'm definitely gonna do a separate fic that deals with the aftermath of this since I feel any more than this would upset the balance of it for me. But it means having Paz and Bob working together on making Din feel better about this decision and I can feel some interesting interactions that would come with that! 
> 
> Hopefully, it was a fun chapter to read! :D


End file.
